How Ang got the House to grant him a 25-year e-sabong franchise
THE sabungeros massacre is another case in which the House of Representatives proved to be a tool of the elites — a gang of hypocrites — this time serving gambling lord Atong Ang, who has been accused of that horrific crime by the justice department.
The first reports of sabungeros (Michael Bautista and Ricardo Lasco) being abducted from cockpits, never to be seen again, emerged in April and August 2021.
Whether or not Ang became concerned that authorities would blame these murders on him — since the sabungeros came from his Manila Arena cockpit — he moved quickly to secure a 25-year franchise for his e-sabong company, Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc. A few months earlier, Lucky 8 had already secured a license to operate from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
On July 19, 2021, House Bill 09834 was filed to grant the firm the 25-year franchise, with three principal authors: Representatives Joey Sarte Salceda, Sharon Garin and Conrado Estrella. The bill was read on Aug. 3 and substituted by House Bill 10199 — even after reports of the sabungeros’ abduction from Ang’s Manila Arena cockpit.
The number of principal authors increased from just three to 28. Among the most recognizable were Representatives LRay Villafuerte, Joseph Paduano (who later earned the moniker “the contempt rep”), Stella Quimbo, Jericho Nograles and Esmael Mangudadato.
The bill moved through the House at unprecedented speed. It was passed on second reading on Sept. 13, less than a month after its first reading. The committees on legislative franchise and ways and means approved the bill on the same day. It was then approved on third reading the very same day as the second reading and transmitted to the Senate the next day.
Such speed in passing a bill could only have been achieved if huge bribes were paid or promised to the representatives, similar to the case of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, which was passed by 215 congressmen within a day. Out of the 307 representatives at that time, 162 voted for it, two (Alan Peter and Lani Cayetano) voted against, while the rest abstained or did not vote.
After the House of Representatives swiftly approved the 25-year franchise bill for Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc., the Senate took a totally different stance, marked by caution, investigation and eventual inaction. The Senate, led by the committee on public services chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, two months later suspended deliberations on the franchise bill. This decision came after testimonies about the social harms of e-sabong, including suicides linked to gambling losses, and amid the unresolved disappearance of at least 34 cockfighting enthusiasts associated with e-sabong operations.
Multiple Senate hearings were conducted, focusing on the cases of the missing sabungeros. The Senate recommended further investigation into Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc. and its officers, including Atong Ang, due to their alleged connection to the arenas where the disappearances occurred. The Senate adopted a resolution strongly urging the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to suspend the licenses of all e-sabong operators, including Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc., until the cases of the missing persons were resolved.
Due to the unresolved investigations, and significant opposition, the Senate did not act on or pass the franchise bill. Senate leaders March 2022 declared the bill “dead” in the 18th Congress, citing both the lack of material time for deliberation and widespread opposition to the measure. The Senate proved to be an institution rejecting control by an elite — this time, a gangster. It may also prove itself to be a chamber of wisdom in the case of the attempt at impeaching Vice President Duterte.
How PhilStar and the Philippine Daily Inquirer are so brainwashed
Our ambassador to the US, Jose Romualdez, spent a whole column on July 6 in PhilStar glorifying former senator Francis Tolentino as a “true Filipino nationalist.” Romualdez claimed that China had banned Tolentino from entering the country as a result of his authoring the Philippine Maritime Zones Law, which, among other things, declared as Philippine territory several islands and reefs also claimed by China.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer echoed Romualdez’s line two days later, stating that Tolentino was singled out for authoring that law.
Romualdez did not even discuss the real, obvious reason Tolentino was banned from China: he made public a copy of a check issued by the Chinese embassy to a PR and events-management firm. Without any proof, Tolentino claimed — two weeks before the elections, in which he lost — that the firm funded troll farms attacking anti-China personalities like him. Tolentino likely knew he was fabricating the story to make headlines before the elections, as he never repeated the accusation outside the Senate halls, where he enjoyed immunity.
Surprisingly (or not), the Inquirer claimed that “Tolentino exposed an alleged Chinese embassy-funded troll network,” a claim that has been proven to be absolutely false — even the former senator has not repeated it. This is a clear case where a brainwashed person refuses to see an obvious fact. The nation will continue to be stuck in an irrational anti-China, “China-as-an-imperialist-power” ideology, which will only provoke the superpower to do what we claim it has done and gobble up our reefs one by one.
Imagine if a senator made public a check issued by the US embassy to a PR firm and claimed that the company was undertaking a propaganda offensive against anti-China writers. Romualdez and the Inquirer’s reaction would have been totally different, wouldn’t it?
We should all keep in mind the old adage about how easily patriotism (group loyalty) can be used to distract people from the real motives of a scoundrel.
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How Ang got the House to grant him a 25-year e-sabong franchise
Source: Breaking News PH
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